Public Policy

  • July 02, 2024

    NCDOT, Motorist On Hook For $38M In Crosswalk Crash Case

    A North Carolina state court jury has awarded $38 million to a motorist who suffered paralysis after she was hit by a car, in a suit accusing the North Carolina Department of Transportation of causing the collision by improperly designing a crosswalk.

  • July 02, 2024

    Gig Drivers' Union Rights Make It To Mass. Ballot

    Massachusetts voters will decide in November whether to give app-based drivers the right to unionize after supporters of a proposed ballot initiative submitted a batch of signatures to the state Tuesday, the Service Employees International Union announced. 

  • July 02, 2024

    Georgia Wants 11th Circ. To Undo Blocks On Election Law

    The state of Georgia has urged the Eleventh Circuit to undo the enjoining of two provisions of the state's controversial 2021 election law, including a ban on handing out food and drinks to voters waiting in line that the state called a "prophylactic" against electoral interference.

  • July 02, 2024

    Calif. Tribe Members Say Racial Ancestry Case Is Valid

    Family members seeking control of the California Valley Miwok Tribe have told a federal court that the U.S. Department of the Interior wrongly claims they must submit to a process designed to determine their racial ancestry, even though the process is unregulated.

  • July 02, 2024

    Paxton Slammed For 'Intolerable' Bid To Shutter El Paso Org

    Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's efforts to shut down a Catholic nonprofit he has accused of smuggling and harboring migrants is "outrageous and intolerable," an El Paso County judge ruled Tuesday, blasting him for using his administrative power to push "his own personal beliefs or political agenda."

  • July 02, 2024

    Captioning Providers Worried About FCC Rate Cuts

    Companies that provide captioned telephone service for people with hearing and speech disabilities are criticizing a Federal Communications Commission proposal to reduce rates paid to providers, saying that successive rate cuts could jeopardize their credit lines and diminish their ability to raise capital if the agency doesn't change course.

  • July 02, 2024

    House Dems Urge More F-16 Training For Ukrainian Pilots

    Fifteen House Democrats implored the U.S. Department of Defense on Monday to support Ukraine's request to train 10 additional pilots on F-16 fighter jets this year.

  • July 02, 2024

    Court Must Toss Customs Broker's Unripe Suit, Feds Say

    U.S. Customs and Border Protection pushed to dismiss a customs broker's suit over its allegedly unlawful removal from two programs that expedite import entries at the border, saying its decisions were not final and are, therefore, not ready for judicial review.

  • July 02, 2024

    ​​​​​​​Top Groups Lobbying The FCC

    The Federal Communications Commission heard from advocates nearly 150 times in June on issues including broadband map accuracy, next-generation 911, prison phone rates, a new missing-persons code and rules to restrict bulk billing in apartment buildings.

  • July 02, 2024

    Turkish Co. Says Feds Mistook Tax Exemptions For Subsidies

    A Turkish steel company challenged new countervailing duties on steel concrete rebar, telling the U.S. Court of International Trade that the federal government allegedly misidentified a widely available tax exemption as a subsidy providing an unfair market advantage.

  • July 02, 2024

    Gov't Urged To Gauge TransDigm Deals' Effect On Defense Biz

    Three Democratic lawmakers are pressing the U.S. Department of Defense and antitrust enforcers to review an aerospace company's recent acquisition of two other companies, citing antitrust and price gouging concerns.

  • July 02, 2024

    Colo. City Housing Authority Says Board Can't Be Fired At Will

    A Colorado city's ordinance violates state law because it gives the mayor the power to replace the commissioners of the city's housing authority without just cause, the housing authority has claimed in Colorado state court.

  • July 02, 2024

    Pharma Co. Scores Exit In Investor Suit Over Primate Imports

    A Massachusetts federal judge tossed every claim in a proposed class action claiming that pharmaceutical company Charles River Laboratories and its executives concealed their involvement in the illegal importation of nonhuman primates for research, ruling that the disputed statements are not false or misleading.

  • July 02, 2024

    DOL Sends Final Rule On Mental Health Parity To White House

    The U.S. Department of Labor transmitted a final rule to the White House for review designed to boost employer health plans' compliance with a law requiring equal coverage of mental health and substance use disorder treatments compared to physical care, according to a regulatory filing posted online.

  • July 02, 2024

    CFPB's Founding Fair Lending Chief Heads For Exit

    Patrice Ficklin, the longtime top fair lending official at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, is leaving the agency later this month after more than a decade leading its efforts to oversee the financial industry's compliance with federal laws banning credit discrimination.

  • July 02, 2024

    McKinsey Wants To Arbitrate Ex-Partner's Defamation Suit

    McKinsey & Co. has urged a New York state judge to send to arbitration or dismiss a former partner's defamation lawsuit alleging the consulting giant tried to make him a scapegoat for purported evidence destruction amid a U.S. Department of Justice probe into McKinsey's work with opioid makers.

  • July 02, 2024

    'Angry' Connecticut AG Probing Music Festival Fiasco

    Connecticut Attorney General William Tong on Tuesday announced that his office has launched an investigation into a three-day rock music festival organized by Capulet Entertainment LLC that drew big-name bands before the venue changed at the last minute, leading numerous acts to drop out and forcing attendees to abandon their outdoor camping plans.

  • July 02, 2024

    Justices Revive FERC Solar Fight, Citing Chevron Ruling

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered the D.C. Circuit to rethink its approval of a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission decision granting market benefits for a small-scale solar energy project in Montana following the justices' blockbuster decision upending judicial deference to regulatory agencies.

  • July 02, 2024

    Native American Activist Leonard Peltier Denied Parole

    The U.S. Parole Commission on Tuesday denied parole for Leonard Peltier, a Native American activist serving a life sentence for his conviction in the 1975 slayings of two FBI agents, despite an array of calls for clemency over the years from such luminaries as Pope Francis and the Dalai Lama, as well as tribes, civil rights groups and federal lawmakers.

  • July 02, 2024

    Mont. Revenue Drops $180M From Last Fiscal Year

    Montana collected $180 million less in general fund revenue during the fiscal year that ended in June than it did in the previous year, the state Department of Revenue said in a preliminary report.

  • July 02, 2024

    Data Analysis Shows Swift Influx In EPA Brownfield Grants

    A Law360 Real Estate Authority analysis of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's brownfield grant awards since the program's inception shows a steep increase in funding, particularly in funding of cleanups, since the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law was passed in 2021. 

  • July 02, 2024

    Congress Urges DOJ To Probe TikTok Kids' Privacy Concerns

    A bipartisan group of lawmakers urged the U.S. Department of Justice on Tuesday to quickly review the Federal Trade Commission's complaint referral against TikTok and its parent company ByteDance Ltd. for possibly violating a children's privacy law.

  • July 02, 2024

    After Fischer, Judge Releases Atty Convicted In Jan. 6 Riot

    A D.C. federal judge ordered the release of a Georgia attorney imprisoned for storming the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, saying his pending appeal would likely result in his freedom after the U.S. Supreme Court narrowed an obstruction of Congress law used to convict him and others involved in the assault.

  • July 02, 2024

    Mass. Panel Won't Cut Tax Value Over Denied Building Permits

    The owner of commercial property in Massachusetts failed to show that local denials of building permits impacted the tax value of the property, a state panel said in a decision released Tuesday, rejecting the owner's appeal of a local assessment.

  • July 02, 2024

    Sentencing Relief Law Gets Another Supreme Court Look

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to consider whether a sentencing reduction provision in the First Step Act can apply to defendants whose sentences prior to the 2018 law are vacated and who are resentenced with the statute in effect.

Expert Analysis

  • High Court's BofA Ruling Leaves State Preemption Questions

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    A recent U.S. Supreme Court decision in Cantero v. Bank of America sheds light on whether certain state banking regulations apply to federally chartered banks, but a circuit split could still force the Supreme Court to take a more direct position, says Brett Garver at Moritt Hock.

  • What 4 Cyber Protection Actions Mean For Marine Transport

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    Several recent steps by the Biden administration are necessary to address the cyber threats that increasingly disrupt the maritime sector, but also impose new legal risks, liabilities and operating costs on the owners and operators of U.S.-flagged vessels and facilities, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • Next Steps After 5th Circ. Nixes Private Fund Adviser Rules

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    The Fifth Circuit's recent toss of key U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rules regarding private fund advisers represents a setback for the regulator, but open questions, including the possibility of an SEC petition to the U.S. Supreme Court, mean it's still too early to consider the matter closed, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • 'Energy Communities' Update May Clarify Tax Credit Eligibility

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    A recent IRS notice that includes updated lists of locations where clean energy projects can qualify for additional tax credits — based 2023 unemployment data and placed-in-service dates — should help provide clarity regarding project eligibility that sponsors and developers need, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.

  • Inside Antitrust Agencies' Rollup And Serial Acquisition Moves

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    The recent request for public comments on serial acquisitions and rollup strategies from the Federal Trade Commission and U.S. Justice Department mark the antitrust agencies' continued focus on actions that fall below premerger reporting thresholds, say attorneys at Paul Weiss.

  • Think Like A Lawyer: Always Be Closing

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    When a lawyer presents their case with the right propulsive structure throughout trial, there is little need for further argument after the close of evidence — and in fact, rehashing it all may test jurors’ patience — so attorneys should consider other strategies for closing arguments, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.

  • Expected Developments From Upcoming Basel Capital Rules

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    With U.S. federal banking regulators preparing to finalize the Basel IV regulatory framework as early as this fall, banks and private investment funds are expected to look to uncommitted facilities as one method to address key changes, including tighter capital requirements, say attorneys at Mayer Brown.

  • Takeaways From Nat'l Security Division's Historic Declination

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    The Justice Department National Security Division's recent decision not to prosecute a biochemical company for an employee's export control violation marks its first declination under a new corporate enforcement policy, sending a clear message to companies that self-disclosure of misconduct may confer material benefits, say attorneys at Perkins Coie.

  • Deciphering SEC Disgorgement 4 Years After Liu

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    Since the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2020 decision in Liu v. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to preserve SEC disgorgement with limits, courts have continued to rule largely in the agency’s favor, but a recent circuit split over the National Defense Authorization Act's import may create hurdles for the SEC, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

  • Opinion

    California Has A Duty To Curtail Frivolous CIPA Suits

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    As plaintiffs increasingly file class actions against companies for their use of website tracking cookies and pixels, the Legislature should consider four options to amend the California Invasion of Privacy Act and restore the balance between consumer privacy and business operational interests, say Steven Stransky and Jennifer Adler at Thompson Hine and Glenn Lammi at the Washington Legal Foundation.

  • Updates To CFTC Large Trader Report Rules Leave Questions

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    The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission's updated large trader position reporting rules for futures and options is a much-needed change that modernizes a rule that had gone largely untouched since the 1980s, but the updates leave important questions unanswered, say Katherine Cooper and Maggie DePoy at BCLP.

  • Series

    Playing Chess Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    There are many ways that chess skills translate directly into lawyer skills, but for me, the bigger career lessons go beyond the direct parallels — playing chess has shown me the value of seeing gradual improvement in and focusing deep concentration on a nonwork endeavor, says attorney Steven Fink.

  • State Procurement Could Be Key For Calif. Offshore Wind

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    A recent ruling from the California Public Utilities Commission highlights how the state's centralized electricity procurement mechanism could play a critical role in the development of long lead-time resources — in particular, offshore wind — by providing market assurance to developers and reducing utilities' procurement risks, say attorneys at Wilson Sonsini.

  • Key FCC Enforcement Issues In AT&T Location Data Appeal

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    AT&T’s decision to challenge a $57 million fine from the Federal Communications Commission for its alleged treatment of customer location information highlights interesting and fundamental issues about the constitutionality of FCC enforcement, say Patrick O’Donnell and Jason Neal at HWG.

  • Calif. Budget Will Likely Have Unexpected Tax Consequences

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    A temporary suspension of net operating loss deductions and business incentive tax credits, likely to be approved on June 15 as part of California’s next budget, may create unanticipated tax liabilities for businesses that modeled recently completed transactions on current law, says Myra Sutanto Shen at Wilson Sonsini.

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